Railways and the transformation of the Scottish economy
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Date
1969Author
Vamplew, W.
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Abstract
This thesis is primarily concerned with assessing, by the use
of quantitative method and economic analysis, the role that the
indigenous railways played, as consumers of industrial products
and as suppliers of transport, in the rise of the Scottish heavy
industries during the nineteenth century. Secondary themes
include the source and productivity of railway capital; the railways as employers; the influence they had on Scottish agriculture;
and their effect on other forms of transport.
An examination of the backward linkages between the Scottish
railways and the native engineering, iron and steel, and coal
industries suggests that railway demand had little immediate impact
upon these industries. In the third quarter of the century, however,
a locomotive building industry was established on the basis of
Scottish railway demand; direct demand for coal was never important
but, when indirect demand via the iron and steel industries is taken
into account, the significance of coal consumption attributable to
the railways increases, especially around 1870; railway demand for
Scottish iron and steel increased in importance with the coming of
the steel age but still remained of minor significance, though the
construction of the Forth Bridge in the last two decades of the
century may have had important qualitative influences on both the
steel and engineering industries. More immediate was the influence
of the railways as transportation agencies, partly in reducing
the amount of relatively expensive road transport required for
most journeys, but also, and perhaps initially more important, in
forcing existing forms of transport to charge much nearer to
marginal costs than they had previously done.
It can also be suggested that foreign aid in the form of men,
money and materials was essential to the creation of the Scottish
railway system, at least prior to 1850, if not even later. Domestic
capital was relatively scarce because of competing demands during
the long expansionary wave throughout the economy, following the
application of the hot blast to the iron industry. The ensuing
desire to attract external capital was one reason for the employment
of well-known English civil engineers. Another was their previous
experience; a factor that also partially explains the purchase of
rolling stock, especially locomotives, and rails from south of the
border. Technical problems too played a part in determining the
utilisation of non-Scottish rails and, for a while, coal. Finally,
Irish navvies and English craftsmen were active in constructing
Scottish lines though the operating staff tended to be more locally
recruited.